Jewel
by ShadowMoonSedai
Summary: When the attack on Earth came from beyond the sky itself, the Troopers found themselves at a loss. Earth, however, sent out a call of her own and now, it falls on the Troopers to find out exactly who... or what, answered.
1. Prologue

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Jewel

Prologue

-_click_-  
"… and, remarkably, no one was killed, though many were injured. These lights-"  
-_click_-  
"Above the Tokyo Tower in Tokyo, Japan, the blue "star", as it is being called, appears to be, surprisingly, a young girl-"  
-_click_-  
"Las Vegas, U.S.A.'s red light had been identified as-"  
-_click_-  
"After much searching, the name of the young girl who holds London's light had been found-"  
-_click_-  
"The name of Sydney's orange light is-"  
-_click-  
_"- Cairo's yellow light had been identified as-"  
-_click-  
_"- above the streets of Berlin, the blue light is-"__

-click- -clickpop!-

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In AD 2000, in the middle of the day, a foreign threat appeared in the skies above the major cities of the planet called Earth. No one knew where they had come from and it was quickly spread that this threat was from beyond the edges of the planet itself, from the reaches of the universe. Regardless of its origin, the threat had no qualms with destroying and quickly began to lay waste at the edges of Earth's major metropolises. And when there seemed to be no hope, the Earth itself sent her own answering lights. Above the cities in danger - Tokyo, Japan; Sydney, Australia; London, England; Cairo, Egypt; Berlin, Germany; and Las Vegas, Nevada, USA- lights as bright as the stars themselves appeared suddenly and without warning. All attacks that were in progress were deflected and all damage that had been done was undone. The attack ended and all seemed well… but the lights did not leave. They remained, beacons of hope and a reminder of what had happened.

Then, something became frighteningly apparent. The lights were more then just lights - they were humans, girls, in fact, but unreachable trapped in their light-shells. There were identified - all had families, more or less, that had been worried when their daughters had gone missing. Something had to be done… they had to be freed…

Five years passed. Trapped, the girls did age, as they would have in the world that continued around them. Nothing, it was decided, could be done for the trapped girls. All efforts failed and several had resulted in the loss of life and, after they had been declared non-threatening, they were left alone, though admired from a distance by all.

But they were not given up on…


	2. Chapter 1

He paused on the street corner, at the edge of the crowd, and pulled down on the brim of his baseball cap over his face. Above, in the warm desert sky, burned a light like a second sun - brilliant and vibrant, giving off only the slightest bit of heat to warm even the coldest day. In this place of sand and mountains, no heat was needed, but the people that gathered beneath it seemed to not mind at all, chattering amongst themselves and pointing skyward at the glowing orb. From this vantage point, its source was not visible, not even to the keenest eye, but from the narrow black observation deck that stole into the space below it, that would not be a problem.

Provided, of course, that he _reached_ the top of the deck, sometime before he either roasted alive or was crushed by the press of people filling in around him.

_And I got talked into this, how?_ he wondered to himself as the flow of people guided him forward and narrowed into a line three people across. The City of Las Vegas, always eager to please the people that visited its fair and shiny city, had built this tower to hold a maximum of eleven hundred people on the top and to support the over all weight of upwards of thirty-five hundred visitors on the stairs and accompanying service elevator. The price to get passed the gates around the tower was six dollars for adults and children thirteen and up, four dollars and fifty cents for children under twelve, senior citizens over the age of 55, and kids under five were free. There was a separate cost, for something very different from the usual walk to the observation deck, and when the capped tourist reached the bottom of the grated metal stairs, he stepped aside, into the path of an armed, heavily muscled guard. The peopled around him cast doubtful glances at his back, boring into the deep red of his tank top, but he held his head eye and presented the guard with a laminated pass bearing a photo and his signature, as well as explicit instructions. The guard eyed the pass, then the capped young man holding it, and with a twist of his lips, stepped aside and opened a tall fence door, allowing the young man to pass him and enter onto a stair that had bore the weight of very few people since it had been built. Oh, there had already been several to pass through this door, since dawn alone, with bright faces and lean, fighter builds like his, but they had all left with broken dreams and sometimes, broken bones. The guard had been on duty since the opening of the tower, hired by the family who had built it, and he had seen them all. This young man's chances were slim - the path he was taking would lead him to one of the strongest, and most surprising, guardians in the world.

"Good luck, Ryo Sanada," gruffed the security guard as the young man placed one foot on the narrow metal stairs that ran between the close linked fenced in walls. The young man stopped and dropped his hand from the railing to his side. He reached up and pulled the hat from his head, revealing a loose tumble of tussled black hair.

"Do me a favor, please," he said, turning slightly and holding out his hat. He had the full attention of the crowd at his level and those who could make out his form on the stair above. The guard lifted a thick eyebrow and took the proffered hat in one on his hands.

"What?" he inquired. The young man pulled his hand back and flashed a broad grin.

"Watch my hat," he requested, turning back to the stairs. He was halfway up to the first platform, surrounded by the chuckles and rolled eyes of his audience, when he stopped and turned again, grinning down at the half annoyed, half bemused guard. "And call her family! I'm bringing her home!!" A chortle went through the people in ear shot, which included some of the tower who had been previously unaware of what was happening below them, and as he bolted up the rickety stairs, he met with light applause and people amused by the "fervor of youth".

The stairs ran in a haphazard pattern, turning at odd intervals, shooting out underneath the uniform stairs of the tourists. Originally, the tower had built for observation only, but less than a month after it had opened, a stranger had tried to attack the "Guardian Maiden" in the sky. The light itself reacted, destroying the attacker and sending a ripple effect through everyone who had been there - including the boy who would be the light's future guardian. That had been the most interesting fact about this tower, that Ryo could find - the tower's guardian was, in fact, the brother of the girl in the side the orb. And, furthermore, he was only thirteen years old.

Ryo paused as the straight, though crooked, staircase turned abruptly into a tight, circling stair with even narrower steps than the ones he was perched on. He looked up, then looked down - halfway up the half a mile tall tower and the construction workers had finally gotten smart - instead of attempting to fit in more flights of straight stairs, they had simply started building up, into the very base of what was commonly called the "Guardian's Room". Ryo had it on good authority that people just weren't very creative.

He took his time on the winding stair, keeping close to the outside and keeping one hand on the outside railing and one hand on the inside track. It would do him no good what so ever if he were to fall and break a bone and given his track record on stairs, he figured he had better be as careful as possible. As far as he and stairs went… well, they didn't. Period.

_I hope the others are having this much fun,_ he thought idly as he stopped to rest. Only a few more yards to go, straight up, of course, but he could not- and would not- waste energy on them. Not even for the amount of money he was being paid for all of this. He sat down and leaned his weight against a thin metal spindle, closing his eyes to the angry Nevada heat.

_Damn Seiji and his… job_. He sighed to himself. _Even if we _do_ need the money, even if it _is_ the company that he works for, even if… even if… damn him. He just _had _to bring up the "Honor of the Troopers". 'We've got to rescue those poor, trapped girls - their families are depending on us for our help!' _He snorted and shook his head. _Bastard. Seiji, you stupid, stupid bastard._ There was a heavy thud on the flat ceiling above him and he lifted his eyes as people on the staircase glanced over as well. _If this kid's half as good as the Minami report, they don't _need_ our help._ He shook his head and pulled himself to his feet, gripping the rail to keep his balance. Above him, there was the soft sound of a lock clicking and footsteps on the stairs. He pushed himself as far over as he could go, which was not very far, then though better of himself and clambered over the rail, wrapping one leg firmly around the spindle he had previously been leaning against. His other foot balanced on the step just below the one he had rested on and he held tightly onto the railing as the footsteps descended carefully down the steps above. The figure, or figures as it were, rounded the corner - a girl, about his age, carrying another girl on her back, this one unconscious. Both were blonde and as the conscious one regarded him with cool blue eyes, he realized that they were not only sisters, but twins. They had the bodies of fighters, lean and hard, with defined muscle lines on their bare arms. The look of a fighter hung heavily in the eyes of the standing one.

"I should do you a favor and push you off that rail," she said grimly and as Ryo's eyes widened in disbelief, she continued, "You're doing yourself no favors by going up there. That kid… he fights like a trapped animal. No matter how big you are, no matter how strong, you _will_ lose." Ryo's eyes narrowed and he nodded firmly. She nodded back. "Good luck - you'll need it." She hefted her sister's weight higher onto her back and continued her trek back down the stairs. When she had disappeared from sight, Ryo pulled himself back over the railing and stopped, catching his weight on the inside rail. He turned and leaned over the rail again, watching intently until he saw the two blonde heads emerge from the bottom of the stair case. They stopped and the one on her sister's back slid off, landing on her feet. Her sister wrapped an arm around the other girl's waist and together, they limped down the rest of the stairs.

"That's one hell of an omen," Ryo muttered, straightening and rubbing the back of his neck. He was beginning to get a bad feeling about this - a really bad feeling, in fact, but not so bad as to negate the number that flashed in his head - the total sum of money the Minami Company would be paying him for this job _alone_. Multiply that by six, one for each of the six trapped girls, and it was sum worth even the possibility of getting his ass kicked by a junior human. He _would_ free that girl - she would not only be putting him through the rest of his college years, she would also be buying him a new car and for all that, he at least owed her freedom she was currently denied.

He climbed the rest of the stairs carefully, taking them one at a time, and stopped again when he reached the landing at the top. The metal floor extended into a short - very short- hallway, with a door on either side. They were in descript doors, set up a few inches from the landing. Both were painted grey, though only one had a knob, a shiny, seamless round thing. He reached for it and turned it gently, pushing the door very lightly. A wave of cool air washed over him from inside, accompanied by the sounds of soft music. The door opened onto a medium sized room, one that was as grey as the door, but brightly lit with sunshine from the outside. This room - and the building itself- sat slightly higher than the observation platform and, like the platform, was completely enclosed and air conditioned, though the observation deck did not bear the same plush blue couches as this room. Two young men sat on either ends of one couch and a young woman was stretched out on the other, her arm over her eyes, a thick braid of black hair falling over the side of the couch to brush the floor. As Ryo stood there, taking in the room, she lifted her arm and regarded him with brown eyes.

"Heya, close that, would ya?" she inquired. "It's a frickin' furnace outside as it is - don't ruin this mini-paradise." Ryo quickly stepped inside and shut the door behind him. The woman nodded firmly and sat up, dropping her feet to the floor and casually tossing her braid over her shoulder. "So what's your story, California?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Ryo opened his mouth, than stopped mid thought.

"'California'?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow. There came a great sigh from one of the other boys in the room.

"I'm "Kansas" and Ling is "Texas", even though we're _all_ Asian in the room," said the one furthest from the door, lifting his head and narrowing his eyes at the one sitting across from him. His short, spiked black hair glistened in the sunlight that spilled in from the window and his eyes were hard. "You're an idiot."

"Why don't you just bite me, Steven?" she shot back, leaning forward on her knees. "And grow up - we've got company. Have a seat, buddy, and tell us a little about yourself." She patted the couch cushion at the other end of the couch from her and Ryo took it gratefully, sinking down into the thick foam. The seat was a joy after his half a mile stair climb and he took a moment to savor it, leaning back into the backrest. He heaved a content sigh, making the girl laugh. "Enjoy the walk up, Cali?" Ryo nodded and lifted his head.

"Definitely worth the exercise," he said, pulling himself into a sitting position. "I'm Ryo."

"Kyoko," said the girl, straightening. "And that's Steven on the left and Ling on the right. We're here to trounce a toddler - you?" Steven snorted and rolled his eyes as Ling remained silent.

"Well… the same, I guess," answered Ryo, even though his basic plan of attack involved no attacking at all. He made a face. "Although I still have no idea why." Kyoko chuckled and shook her head.

"We're back for a rematch," she explained, standing and stretching her arms above her head. "We were one of the first groups to lose to that little halfling and we've been training ever since, so we could come back and return the favor." She bounced lightly on her feet, than kicked high - higher than Ryo could ever hope to kick, in any case. Her foot came down firmly on the floor and she grinned to herself, silently.

"We got our asses kicked," spoke up Steven, shaking his head as well. "And the kid was only _nine_ than. Now he's had four years to train as well - it'll be tough, but we're determined to win."

"Not half as determined as he is to protect his sister," came a quiet voice. All eyes turned to Ling, who sat up and rubbed a hand across his forehead. "I saw it in his eyes the last time. He never loses because he has too much at stake." There was silence, then Kyoko snorted weakly.

"We've got a lot at stake too, little brother," she stated flatly, but her eyes had lost some of the conviction. Ryo watched them with covert interest - were all of the fighters who came up here like these three? He certainly didn't think he himself was. In truth, while the money was a wonderful thing, when it came down to it, the real reason was to free the girl inside. The girl who had a brother risking his life to protect her and parents who missed her deeply.

"How long do we wait?" asked Ryo quietly, sensing the mood in the room quickly declining. Doubt is a horrible thing to introduce at the moment before a battle. Kyoko sat back down, on the edge of the couch this time, and pulled her braid over her shoulder, brushing the unbound tip against her arm.

"Who knows?" she replied, pulling one knee up to her chest and resting her chin on it. "Sometimes, people manage to last a few minutes and sometimes…" She pulled on her braid and frowned. "Sometimes, he just sits there. He talks with her, the Maiden, and he'll do that for _hours_."

"He can _talk_ to her?" Ryo raised both eyebrows eye. "Now, that's not something I've heard before."

"You haven't?" Now it was Steven's turn to raise his eyebrow. "What _have_ you heard, then?" Ryo knit his eyebrows together, then shrugged.

"What I thought that everyone had heard," he said, mentally crossing his fingers. He wasn't _really _lying - there were other people who knew what he did… just not everyone. "That he can fight in any style, from any country, that's he's never lost, that he's got speed unmatched by anyone and has _never_ taken a hit - ever." Kyoko nodded grimly.

"I'll vouch for that - I'm the fastest in our family and wasn't even close to him," she said, lowering her eyes to the slate blue Berber carpet. "It's supernatural, the way he fights. She gave him his strengths and she supplements them… some people think that she wants to remain in her shell…" She lifted her eyes and turned her head to regard Ryo with her dark eyes. "Some people have placed them onto the pedestals of god-hood, revering them and worshipping them. To free them would be to destroy the faiths of possibly thousands." Something flashed in her eyes then, a glitter like a candle flame in the distance. Ryo felt a strange chill slide down his spine and settle down in the pit of his stomach. Ling straightened on the couch, a stray black bang falling across his eyes.

"Kyo-chan?" he inquired softly. She sat still as a sculpture, her eyes trained on Ryo and only Ryo.

"_I know who you are_." The words were soft, whispered, almost illegible from the lips of the formally rambunctious warrior in training. His eyes flickered from hers to the other two men, who seemed oblivious now, simply watchers, audience unhearing. "_Ryo of Sanada, Ryo of Rekka, Ryo of Jin. I see the fire that burns so brightly inside of you…it calls to me, as it once called to you. Do you understand, Sanada Ryo, friend to all life?_"

"I don't," he murmured in return. "Who… what are you?" A smirk passed over the lips of Kyoko, curling the edges of her mouth and relighting the faraway candle sparkle in the depths of her eyes. The darkness faded to blue ice. Two deep pools stared at him firmly.

"_You will face me this day, Ryo Sanada, and from there, you must decide your own fate,_" she said, her mouth barely forming the words. The smirk faded and was replaced by a deep frown. "_Harm my brother, Sanada, and I will not even give you the chance to choose. His life is more precious to me than you could ever image._"

"I'm not here to _fight_," Ryo assured her flatly. "I'm here to free you and that alone." She lifted an eyebrow, then narrowed her eyes.

"_We will see,_" she replied lightly, the pale blue giving in to the dark shadow of Kyoko's deep brown. "_You had_ better_ not hurt Dakota. I will make your life _hell_, Sanada Ryo, you can count on that._"


	3. Chapter 2

"_I know who you are_." The words were soft, whispered, almost illegible from the lips of Kyoko, the formally rambunctious warrior in training. His eyes flickered from hers to the other two men in the room, Kyoko's brother, who seemed oblivious now, simply watchers, an audience unhearing. "_Ryo of Sanada, Ryo of Rekka, Ryo of Jin. I see the fire that burns so brightly inside of you…it calls to me, as it once called to you. Do you understand, Sanada Ryo, friend to all life?_"

"I don't," he murmured in return. "Who… what are you?" A smirk passed over the lips of Kyoko, curling the edges of her mouth and relighting the faraway candle sparkle in the depths of her eyes. The darkness faded to blue ice. Two deep pools stared at him firmly.

"_You will face me this day, Ryo Sanada, and from there, you must decide your own fate,_" she said, her mouth barely forming the words. The smirk faded and was replaced by a deep frown. "_Harm my brother, Sanada, and I will not even give you the chance to choose. His life is more precious to me than you could ever image._"

"I'm not here to _fight_," Ryo assured her flatly. "I'm here to free you and that alone." She lifted an eyebrow, then narrowed her eyes.

"_We will see,_" she replied lightly, the pale blue giving in to the dark shadow of Kyoko's deep brown. "_You had_ better_ not hurt Dakota. I will make your life _hell_, Sanada Ryo, you can count on that._" Ryo felt a small flare of his temper, but supressed it with a quick thought. Kyoko's eyes closed, than opened slowly. The candle light was doused and she blinked again, this time rapidly. She sat up and looked around, wide eyed.

"I'm sorry, did I fall asleep?" Steven and Ling exchanged a quick glance, then both of them looked to Ryo, who managed a look of innocence with a confusion that wasn't quite as feigned as he could have hoped and then a nonchalant shrug. Steven shook his head and Ling frowned deeply.

"You did, Kyoko, as usual," said Steven, forcing humor into his voice. He shot her a wide grin. "Resting up before our big fight?" Kyoko grinned broadly.

"Of course. I'm gonna be in top form to beat up that little twerp," she answered, getting to her feet again. Unbidden, the Maiden's words reverberated in his skull, her warning that sounded so cliché and forced and then… her warning about her brother. Her heart had been behind that, and all of the love that she felt towards the brother who protected her. She had placed him in danger, because she had _needed_ him and there was doubt in Ryo that she regretted it everyday. But then, that was something else all together.

_They're conscious, in their cages,_ he thought to himself silently. _They're consciously aware of what's happening around them and they can communicate with people on the outside. Or, at least, this girl can. She gave her brother the power to protect her, but she is still aware enough to be guilty about it…_ He understood that part of her, at least. He too had family that he had placed in danger, more than once, and he, too, had regretted every bit of it. _I won't hurt the kid,_ he promised himself, _because I won't be able to get a hit on him, in any case. I just need to stick with my plan._ He nodded firmly to himself and leaned back against the couch. Bits of his doubt where beginning to ebb away, but something still caused a twist in his stomach whenever it surfaced, of its own accord, in his mind. The words of the Maiden, delivered with a calmness that was as icy as the color of her eyes.

_You must decide your fate._

_My fate of what?_ he asked himself, his frown returning. The other three in the room were now busy amongst themselves, planning and teasing all at the same time. Even quiet Ling seemed to have direct opinions now, ones that made Kyoko laugh warmly. Ryo sat out their merriment in silence, letting the couch envelope him. _'It calls to me, as it called you'… _His hand slipped into cargo pocket of his black pants and as his fingers gently touched the reassuring warmth of his yuroi, he relaxed slight. _She's wrong. The armor of Rekka _can't_ be calling to her…_ He pulled his hand back and raked it through his hair. _But then, why the hell was she talking about?_

There came the loud thud of a door and heavy footsteps outside, on the landing. All sound in the waiting room stopped and gave way to the tension that had been hiding in the teasing and laughter. Their opponent's opponent was done… defeated, by the sound of the steps, which dragged themselves off, fading quickly. All four exchanged glances - by right of placement, Kyoko and the other two in her team were next in line. Ryo would have to wait, by himself, in the waiting room while they went on. Steven and Ling looked to each other, than to her sister, who straightened and turned to face the young man on the couch.

"Come with us, California," she suggested boldly, placing one hand on her hip. "We're all gonna get our asses kicked, whether we go together or separately. Why don't we just make it easier for the kid and take up less of his time?" The suggestion had merit, but interfered slightly with Ryo's plan of "attack". Then again… maybe he could make it that much easier and let these three be the distraction he needed. He looked up at Kyoko and nodded quickly.

"Let's make it easy for him," he agreed, standing. Kyoko giggled and stuck her tongue out at him, her own words sounding stupid coming back to her from a different source. Steven and Ling stood from their couch and each offered a hand to Ryo.

"Come on, "California"," said Steven as Ryo accepted their proffered help, "we'll show this kid what he gets when he messes with _real _fighters." There was a metallic click, then, with a loud _whoosh_ of air, the wall next to the door slid open, like a door on a futuristic space ship. A woman stood in the door, her brown hair cropped short and streaked with bright blonde. Her eyes reflected something that stirred familiarity into Ryo's blood and when she spoke, the voice was like that of the Maiden, only now bearing the wisdom age brings. She wore only a simple pair of jeans and a white cotton t-shirt, with a pair of cross trainers. She looked, in short, like a "soccer mom". Instead, she was standing here, debriefing another group who were going to _attempt_ to beat up the youngest of her children, while one of her daughters hovered in a state of altered consciousness two miles above the Nevada desert. Ryo suspected the blonde was a cover for stress induced grey.

"All four of you, then?" she asked, crossing her arms over her "Grand Canyon" t-shirt. She looked over each of them. "If you have any weapons, I suggest you leave them here - all knives, swords, and guns included. Darts as well. There are basic rules you need to know and understand before you leave this room - there is to be no death moves permitted by other side, and the money that you paid for this is non-refundable. When you are ready, we will continue on." They glanced at each other, but all confirmed their readiness separately. The woman nodded shortly. "Good. You may go in." She stepped into the room and stepped to the side, opening the way into the next room. Kyoko was the first to go through, pushing up her sleeves and holding her chin high as she passed through the door. Steven and Ling followed her lead, their backs straight, standing as tall as they possibly could, but Ryo stayed back, held by something he could not explain. He felt he needed to… no, he knew he _had_ to, tell this woman who he was and who had sent him. He turned as he stepped up to the door, but there was a call for silence in her eyes. Then the looks softened slightly and she gave him a weak smile.

"You don't have to say anything, Ryo Sanada," she said quietly. "I've known for a long time that you were coming, ever since the rep from the Minami Company came to us with his "plan of attack". Just…" Her eyes fell to sadness and began to shimmer with wet tears, "Just be careful with my babies, all of them," she said, lowering her eyes to the ground. "That's all I can ask of you."

"She asked me to do the same thing." Her eyes snapped up and locked onto his. "Belisma, your daughter," he continued, glancing into the next room. There was only silence from behind the door step, but he could see nothing. "Actually," he corrected himself with a small laugh, "she said she'd make my life hell if I hurt Dakota." He looked back at her and at the tears that now slid down her cheeks. Though she was crying, a smile broke her face and brought new light to the forever saddened eyes. "I promised her I wouldn't hurt him, Mrs. Handover, and I won't. Neither of them." All she could do was nod and whisper what sounded like, "thank you," though it was it was skewed by an unladylike sniffle. He returned the nod and turned into the room.

As soon as he stepped inside, the door closed tightly behind him, locking itself with an impenetrable air seal. The woman who was "Mom" to three of the world's strongest and most unfortunate children collapsed to her knees on the rough carpet and began to sob uncontrollably. Freedom, freedom for her children, had finally come.


	4. Chapter 3

Inside the room, there was darkness. Ryo, who had no great love of shadows, let his eyes adjust as well as they could, then observed the room with the only sense he could safely use in this situation - hearing. In the gloom around him, he could make out several different breathing patterns - only one was smooth and even, unafraid, or close enough to mask the fear, while the others seemed to whistle and hiss, like the rapid breathing of an asthmatic snake. Did one of the others have a respiratory problem?

"This is unexpected," came a voice from the darkness, a young voice that carried the same tone as his mother's, only now the wisdom seemed like a heavy scar. "There's so much power in the room now… all of you have come well prepared." The whistle breathing became more laboured, but now Ryo's only breath caught in his throat - this kid could sense his power?!

The air near him shifted slightly and he stepped back from the intrusion, backing into the smooth metal of the door. A hand closed around his wrist, small, yet strong enough to hold on when he tried to pull back. A voice whispered in the darkness,

"You and I are the only ones here close enough to human to count," it said with thinly veiled disgust. "My sister has informed me of your promise, but I will give you the advantage - you and her and I carry the burden of the same power. No one else who has come here has even been close - you are the one destined to release her. But she will die this day if the others get to her first."

"Die?" repeated Ryo, matching the level of the boy's whisper. "From what?" The hand pulled back with such quickness that Ryo thought he had burned the kid - instead, the space he had occupied was invaded by a shadow darker than the ones that surrounded him. Ryo pressed himself against the wall as it stopped in front of him, then moved with liquid grace straight ahead.

"I didn't give in just so you could dodge, you little brat," snapped a voice loudly. It _sounded_ like Kyoko, but there was a higher pitch to it now that hadn't been there before. And, for some reason, she had taken to dragging out her S's. This bothered at Ryo's mind until it finally clicked - his own similes, the boy's words, and now Kyoko…

… _damn it, I don't need this!_

"Lights on!" hollered a loud voice. The room was instantly flooded with cool, white light and Ryo barely managed enough time to close his eyes against the assault. His companions or whatever they were now, hissed and spat and a new sound reached his ears - like sand paper against metal, a sound that could only be described as "slithering". Ryo dared to open his eyes at last and blinked away the bright dots that burned his vision. The boy, Dakota, crouched in the middle of the room, directly across from Ryo. His dark brown hair was shaggily cut and hung partially over one eye and he was wearing what Ryo had expected every _other_ boy his age to be wearing - cargo jeans with a black stripe running down the outside of either leg and a black and yellow basketball jersey. He didn't look a thing different from any boy his age Ryo had ever seen and, when he stood, his dark eyes flitting back and forth, he was actually _shorter_ than Ryo had expected - if this kid stood to Ryo's shoulder, he would be lucky. But there was no doubting the power that emanated from him like the heat of a fire, or the hardness in his eyes - he was a fighter, as much, if not more than, Ryo or any one that Ryo knew.

"And I haven't spent three and a half years guarding Belle just so some black-magically enhanced fucktards can come in and take her away," Dakota challenged, his glare falling just to Ryo's left. "You're seriously going to get your ugly faces kicked in, I can promise that." Ryo turned his head to face the sound of a high pitched giggle. Kyoko also turned her head to look back at him, but they were no longer Kyoko's eyes that found his and it was no longer Kyoko's face from which the windows stared out from. The pale skin of the girl had darkened to black and a red diamond pattern traced the contours of one cheek, sliding down her neck. Her eyes were endless black, her pupils lost to the dark rings that now surrounded them. Ryo took an unconscious step back from her, the blood in his veins suddenly freezing, even as something inside of him smoldered. He could feel the malevolence that slid off of her and it caused a reaction as power such as hers had caused before - the need to fight and the need to protect.

"Heya, California," stated the snake-girl brightly. "Ready to defeat this little brat and claim our reward?" Ryo's conscious regained control of his movements and he shifted his backing up so that he was, instead, putting himself between her and Dakota. As he moved, Ling and Steven became visible in his vision - they had been on the other side of him from Kyoko, and, like her, bore the dark, scaly skin, and red diamond patterns of a cobra. Ryo stopped less than a foot from Dakota, who made a noise in his throat like he was choking on laughter.

"You're protecting me now, Sanada?" he asked, snickering. "Why the hell for?"

"I promised your sister _I _wouldn't hurt you," Ryo stated dully, watching the movements of the snake triplets. All were smirking and all fidgeted in some way, as if they couldn't _wait_ to get their hands on the boy that stood behind Ryo. "And I'm damn well not going to let power like _this_ hurt you. I've fought this before, Dakota - they don't hold back." Dakota snorted now and moved so that he stood on Ryo's side, facing this new opponent from the same position.

"What've you got?" he inquired, his eyes passing critically over the three.

"Mystical Armor," answered Ryo. "You?"

"Mystical Sister," chuckled the boy. "And last I checked, snakes were her favorite animals to play with. She'll enjoy this." He dropped into a fighting stance that Ryo had never seen before in his life and smiled broadly. "Time to have some fun, for once. Come on, rat breath! Give me your best shot!" Kyoko nodded, grimly now, her smirk fading to a snarl. The three of them fanned out, forming a triangle around the boy and his would-be protector.

"What's with the sudden change of heart, Ryo?" asked Steven, shifting smoothly from one foot to the other. He seemed to be the one in the most constant movement, always moving his feet or his head or his hands. "I thought your goal was the same as ours!"

"My goal was never to defeat Dakota," said Ryo, reaching into his pocket for his yuroi. It settled heavily into his hand and hummed with the same fire that burned inside of him. "I'm here to free Belisma and that's _it_." He let the orb rest in his hand, but didn't call on its power - if he needed it, he would, but for the moment, everything seemed to be in the control of Dakota, who was grinning quite happily, despite the current danger. Ryo made a note to figure out what the hell kind of kid he was.

"Ah, the rugged hero, eh, Cali?" asked Kyoko, sniggering. "What's your plan, then? You go up there and break the spell and she falls for you like the rescued damsels of fairy tales?" A slight blush colored Ryo's cheeks - well, he hadn't thought of _that_. It was possible that she _could_, of course, but he… she had a family and… was American and he lived in Japan…

"Oh, screw it," spat Ryo, grimacing. "That has nothing to do with why I'm here!" he continued, maybe a little too quickly. "I was sent here to free Belisma and damn it, that's what I'm gonna do!"

"Way to be smooth, Sanada," commented Dakota briskly. "Now are you belly crawlers gonna fight or keep givin' Genius Boy the third degree? I haven't had lunch yet, for crying out loud. Let's get this over with!"

"You're gonna _be_ lunch in about two minutes," snarled Steven, glaring ice at the boy. "The both of you! You can't humiliate us and expect to get away with it!"

"I did it once, didn't I?" Dakota shot back, his shoulders tightening. "Now stop talking and fight me, damn it!" Ryo was ready for Kyoko - he had already seen a demonstration of her fighting prowess and he could handle it. He'd fought snakes before and won and Naaza had been wearing his armor then. Ryo could handle an unarmed, half snake, half human. No problem.

Except, if maybe, Kyoko vanished into thin air.

Which she did.

Ryo ducked the kick that came suddenly from in front of him, aimed high enough to land squarely in the center of his face. But it missed and the sneaker fell back to the floor to rejoin its twin. In his surprise, Ryo instinctively called for the protection of his yuroi and felt it answer, burning through his blood and over his skin. Kyoko leapt back with a hiss of surprise - but it wasn't over yet. Even as the light of his sub-armor faded, the power was still moving, expanding into the room and seeking out something Ryo could never have fathomed. Or rather, someone. Or, rather, Dakota.

Steven and Ling, who had double teamed the pre-teen, both leapt back as their companion had done, making the same noises as well. Dakota stumbled back from where he had been standing, his eyes wide as the heat invaded his system. Somewhere, he gained his footing and froze on that spot as the burning side traveled outside of him, settling on his skin. The light condensed and hardened, forming a thin plated armor exactly the twin to Ryo's. The boy held out his arms, examined his hands, examined everything with wide, confused eyes, while Ryo watched him with the same look. He… his sub-armor? On Dakota?

"Oh, look," sneered Kyoko, snapping Ryo's reverie. "They _match_." Steven snickered, but Ling remained customarily silent. Ryo looked over at him, drawn to the silence, and then held by the look the snake-boy was given him - not the same, hatred filled looks as Kyoko and Steven, but one so completely different that Ryo couldn't even identify it.

"Oh, you're all _meat_ now," laughed Dakota, curling his armored fingers into a fist. Ryo looked back at him and Dakota only smiled. "Sanada, worry about it later. Now we're gonna have some fun." He took the same fighting stance as he had before, but this time, lunged from it at Ling. The snake boy, caught suddenly unawares, dodged back, but wasn't fast enough by far. Dakota landed a solid hit across the other boy's chin, sending him flying into a wall, where he landed with a thud against the metal, then another when he slid to the floor. His skin faded back to its natural color and the red diamond burned and fell to ash on his collar. Ryo and Dakota shared a glance and an unsaid agreement - _oh_.

"How _dare_ you?!" screamed Kyoko, her voice reaching a pitch that stung Ryo's eardrums. She attacked Dakota with a rapid hiss, only to be intercepted by Ryo, who caught her and wrestled her to the floor. She clawed at him, leaving stinging marks along his unprotected neck. He grabbed her hands and forced them to the floor as he heard Steven snarl and Dakota give a loud, theatric war cry. Ryo turned his gaze to see what was happening and Kyoko snapped up the opportunity, switching their positions with surprising strength and speed. Ryo knew better than to struggle in this position, but it never hurt to fight her hold. She grinned down at him, a bright glint in her eyes, and as her smile parted her lips, gleaming fangs peeked out, glistening as bright as the malice in her gaze.

"Sanada, it's really a pity," she hissed very lightly. "I was beginning to like you, despite the fact you were human and all."

"What the hell _are_ you?" asked Ryo, turning his face away from the look of hunger in her eyes. Was she _really_ going to eat him?

"I am what I was forced to become to regain my family's honor," she said sharply, pressing her weight down on his arms.

"Hey, Sanada!" came Dakota's call. "You got a moment?! I could use your help!" Kyoko snickered and the grin widened.

"Destroying that pest will be a wonderful thing," she said quietly. "He's busy, human!" she added in a surprisingly affectionate call. "I apologize!"

"Yeah, okay! Never mind!" answered Dakota. There was a loud thud, similar to the one Ling had produced, only this one was aided by a cry of pain from Steven. Kyoko lifted her head and scowled, the diamond shifting with the movement of her skin.

"Those idiots. I'll have to do this _myself_. Stay here, California." Ryo opened his mouth to state, firmly, that he would _not_ stay where he was, when Kyoko grabbed his shoulders and lifted him up, before slamming his head into the floor. A shock wave ripped through his head and bright light flashed across his vision, burning bigger spots than even the room lights had done earlier. Every conscious thought he had been holding onto shattered and slid through his grip, leaving him with half formed thoughts and a swimming darkness took hold and threatened to drown him. He grappled for the edges of his awareness and when he finally reached one, it the awareness of a _whoosh_ of air and, less than a moment later, a sharp gasp. The spots separated, but hovered at the edge of his vision, giving him enough of a clear view to make out the form of Dakota's mother, standing rooted into the doorway. He heard Dakota cry out and suddenly, Kyoko was in his field of vision, closing in quickly. Ryo forced himself up, his limbs responding, it seemed, whole minutes after he gave them the command to move. Now everything moved slow and Ryo saw a moment of hope. With an unclear mind and a burst of adrenaline, he slipped in between the snake and its prey. His sudden appearance seemed to break whatever spell held Mrs. Handover and she stumbled back, the door slamming shut when she was clear of it. There was a sharp, short pain where his neck met his shoulder and everything around him became abruptly clearer - the sound of Dakota's labored breathing, the press of Kyoko's body against his, then the cool, comforting press of the metal against the back of his sore head as he slumped against the now closed door. Then, Kyoko's warmth was gone and through the haze that was sinking in around him, Ryo heard a thud. The horizon slid higher and the wall moved up against his back, the floor meeting him somewhere along the line. Someone, or something, grabbed his arm and pulled hard, dragging him to his feet. He was now, officially, dully aware of very little and that didn't bother him a bit. Then, without warning, very little became absolutely nothing and he closed his eyes to darkness.


	5. Chapter 4

__

Sanada…

Rekka…

Jin…

Ryo…

Ryo… I know that you can hear me… this will sting a bit, but if I don't, you'll die and I think that would make Dakota cry… he seems to have taken a liking to you, fire-boy. Ryo's consciousness was floating all of it's own accord. It and of itself distinctly remembered dying… or at least, it thought it had died. It was connected to nothing and the words that encircled it had very little effect on it. The names that were mixed in with the jumble sparked some recognition, but not enough for it to chase them. It liked the quiet, the unending quiet, marred only by distant calls from the its past.

Then, it felt something new, a slight twinge at the edge of a place it had decided to forget about. What was that place… oh, yes, its body. The one that had been ravaged by the poison that had caused it to die. But… if it was dead, why was it beginning to burn? Like the flame of a candle, the feeling started small and, without any warning that it could remember, the flame exploded, ripping into that long forgotten body and racing through it, pouring like liquid metal into every crevice it could find. The numbness that had killed the body was reduced to nothing but the ashes of memory and, with a gasp, the consciousness once again became Ryo and Ryo once again became to breath of his own accord. A pressure he had been unaware of was lifted from his chest and warm wind curled across his skin, teasing his hair. He was aware of these sensations and so many more, as well as a presence that had never been there before, hiding in the back corner of his mind like a secret. As his mind settled into its proper position and began to sort what it missed, he opened his eyes and bombarded it with a load of new information - endless blue above, tinged with a shimmer of red orange, and, when he turned his head, someone altogether as new as the place.

She knelt near him, dressed in black pants and a fern-green tank top. Her brown hair was streaked with mottled blond and fell to pool on the ground around her. She was lean, and fit, and held a worried look that tarnished the brilliant blue of her eyes as she leaned over him.

"Sanada Ryo?" she inquired. The proper Japanese use of his name set off something in his head and before he could stop himself, he started babbling in Japanese, stringing together words and syllables that had no meaning in any translation. The girl's eyes went wide and her lips twitched, but she laid a gentle hand over his mouth and didn't laugh.

"English, please," she said quietly. "My Japanese isn't as up to par as it should be." Ryo blinked up at her as she removed her hand and took in a shaky breath. She was ethereal, this girl, and nothing like what he had imagined she would be.

"I thought you said you were studying Japanese up here," interjected a voice nearby.

"I _was_," argued the girl, lifting her head. "Until I realized that I couldn't manifest a decent text book, or a decent Internet connection. I gave up." There was a snort.

"I'm not surprised," said the voice again, a familiar voice that seemed… different. "Hey, Sanada, are you coherent? We need to talk." Ryo wanted to turn his head, but she looked down at him again and he was suddenly trapped in her gaze, which was cool and calming to his poor, very confused state of consciousness.

"Well?" she asked. "Are you?" Ryo's mind gave him something witty to reply, something about his general well being compared to that of the snake people, but somewhere along the lines, it got befuddled and what came out was nowhere near the original.

"You have really long hair," he said weakly. Her eyes widened and the twitching of her lips was uncontrollable now. It dawned on Ryo the words that had fallen from his lips and he scowled. "I mean… what the hell is going on here? Where are we?" She _did_ laugh now, a bright cheerful sound that resonated around them.

"Look down, Sanada," Dakota encouraged, chuckling. "You'll figure it out, hopefully." Ryo narrowed his eyes at the boy, then rolled over onto his front and looked down. Far below, people the size of small dolls milled around on an observation deck, colors dots of hair mottled with the occasional glint of bald skin. Ryo gaped and jerked up so fast that his bruised head spun. Strong hands caught his shoulders and held him upright while he regained his balance.

"And with that much said, gentlemen, I think it's time we moved on," said Belisma. "Mom will be worried, especially since the door, _hm_, melted shut and she can't get into the room."

"Only _you_ would melt the door shut," said Dakota, rolling his eyes. "Mom's gonna have a fit. I'm surprised the cops aren't down there already."

"Cops, the FBI, Interpol," listed Belisma, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, we had better get home, before she causes an international freak out." She stood, gathering her hair and sweeping it over her shoulder so that it fell in front of her, stopping just short of her waist. "I'll be glad to get my hands on a pair of scissors, so I can cut this mane and be done with it. Here, Sanada, let me help you up." She offered her hand and he took it, pulling himself up using her as leverage. When he stood, he came to directly her height, her eyes level with his. She smiled warmly. "Let's go, shall we?"

"Go _where_?" asked Ryo, looking around them. "There's no where to go from here, except down." Her smiled softened slightly and she winked at him.

"That's what you think. Up here, this place is mine. I can manifest anything I need to remain comfortable, even ways out. Don't look at me like that, Sanada. I haven't had real reason to leave this place completely behind." Her voice dropped and she narrowed her eyes. "Until those snakes showed up. There's something very wrong going on down there, Sanada Ryo and I'll not sit up here and do nothing while it takes apart the planet I was sacrificed to save." Her eyes hardened to vibrant crystals and her hair seemed to shimmer in the red light of the shell around them. Something inside of Ryo flickered to life, then faded.

"The time has come," announced Belisma, in a strong, clear voice that seemed to resonate out from the edges of her cage. "We who were called duty will now answer that call!" She spread her arms wide and was instantly engulfed in the light that had grown ever stronger with every word she had spoken. The light formed, twisted and condensed into a globe of power that hovered level with the middle of her chest. It pulsed in a strong, even rhythm that seemed to Ryo like the beating of a heart. Then it stopped, froze in the air, and released a thin ring of red tinged white light. The ring passed through both Dakota and Ryo, directly through their chests and out the other side, as if they were of no consequence to it. That which had flickered to life only moments earlier, was awoken again and it forced itself into the same rhythm as the light that he had just witnessed - in time with its heart, it spread itself into his blood stream and settled into every muscle fiber, every bone and every blood cell it could find. His vision burned and became focused on the only thing it could see now - the light engulfed Belisma, standing tall and proud. She looked the part of the goddess that so many had named her on the earth below, her hair fanning out from the force of the power she controlled, her eyes brilliant in the reflected light of the fire orb. His breath came in shorter and shorter gasps, until he found it would not come at all. The heat, the pulse, flowed through him and would not stop, not even to the confused begging of his inner self.

"_This is my gift to you, Rekka no Ryo,_" came Belisma's voice from somewhere beyond the edges of it all. "_Use it wisely, for there may be a time when I will reclaim it._"

"Hey! Sanada!" The pulse snapped, stopped, and vanished somewhere inside of him. He sucked in a deep, relieving breath, then coughed most of it back out as his lungs protested the intrusion. A few hearty thwacks on the back later and he was breathing relatively normally again. Dakota grinned up at him. "Welcome back, Ryo. You missed the trip."

"I did?" asked Ryo uncertainly. He looked around him and felt the joints of his jaw come unhinged. From up in the sky above hot sands, to down to the ground under a canopy of thick green branches, he now stood on soft black dirt that was littered with pine needles. The air was heavy, not dry like the air of the desert, and clung to him with icy fingers against the skin bared by his tank top. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.

"Where in the world are we?" he asked, looking around. Belisma grinned broadly, and spread her hands out in front of her, palms up.

"Home," she answered simply. "Home, where we belong."


End file.
